Alpine CEO accuses team of 'dilettantism or amateurism' after their horrible start to the 2023 F1 season

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has lashed out at his team for an underwhelming start to the 2023 F1 season. The French team finished the 2022 F1 season 4th in the championship and targeted consolidation of the same result this season.

Things have, however, not gone to plan in the first four races. Aston Martin has leapfrogged the midfield and joined the frontrunners.

Other than the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP, where both their drivers scored points, every other race has been a big disappointment for Alpine.

Talking about the start of the season, Laurent Rossi accused the team of 'dilettantism or amateurism'. He had some very hard comments to make about the start of the season. Talking to Canal+, he said:

"It is disappointing, it is really bad, this year has started with a defective performance, it is a lot, and it is evident. Our position in the classification is not worthy of the resources that we spend, and we are quite far, far away from the final goal of this season. I am noticing, not only an evident lack of performance and rigor at work, but also a potential state of mind that is not up to the past standards of this team."

He added:

"I didn't like the first Grand Prix, because there was a lot, sorry to say it, dilettantism or amateurism, choose the word that sounds best, which led to a result that was not correct, that was mediocre, bad. And the last race in Baku was similar to the one in Bahrain, that is not acceptable. You are allowed to make mistakes, it is a basic principle, you learn from them, but you do [need] to learn, and when you make the same mistakes twice, it means you haven't learned and you're not taking responsibility, that's not acceptable."

Criticising Alpine after just four races seems harsh

Alpine at F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Qualifying

Rossi's criticism of the team after the first four races of the season seems a bit harsh. Especially since the incidents in both Australia and Bahrain were unfortunate.

Esteban Ocon's front wing damage was not his fault and in Australia, and Pierre Gasly was a victim of somewhat extreme conditions at the restart.

Alpine was also the first team to bring a major upgrade to the car in Baku and while it could not extract the maximum, the race weekend's extreme nature played a role. The team is under pressure for sure but counting out Alpine after just four races is Rossi probably jumping the gun here.